3 Lessons I Learned From My Chihuahua | USTaxAid 3 Lessons I Learned From My Chihuahua | USTaxAid

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3 Lessons I Learned From My Chihuahua

Written by Diane Kennedy, CPA on September 8, 2007

Category: General Posted by: Diane Kennedy Edit item We have a deaf puppy named Nacho (Nacho Ordinary Chi). I was watching him this past week and realized that there were 3 lessons I could learn from this little dog. Hang in with me to the end – there really is a point to this.

Nacho

Lesson #1: If you can’t hear an objection, it doesn’t exist.

When Nacho would chew something or do some otherwise unacceptable behavior, we would say, “NO!” (which he can’t hear) and then pick him up. He has learned that if he wants attention, all he needs to do is do something he shouldn’t. He never hears an objection.

How many times do we stop a plan before we ever really begin because we think we’ve heard an objection? I don’t know about you, but there are times when it suddenly dawns on me how quiet it is. The thing is that it usually has been quiet all long. I’ve just had a little cocktail party going in my head – replaying things I should have handled better, dealing with objections on why my new business plan won’t work, or any of a hundred things…none of which are really even happening. They are just in my head. Anytime I want, I can just stop listening and get “present” where I deal only with what’s real and what’s really in front of me. Period.

I see this all the time with tax strategies. People get worked up about what “might” happen based on objections from people who have no experience at all in tax strategies. They forget about the savings that are possible and the lost opportunities if they don’t act, and instead start hearing objections that really aren’t even there.

Lesson #2: It’s okay to hang out with the big dogs, but don’t annoy them.

There are potential mentors around you all the time. How are you at attracting them into your life and your business planning? I remember one time I was working on a product for Time-Warner and was in a planning meeting with a lot of TW employees. We were talking about finding someone to mentor. Their biggest concern was that the person asking for the knowledge and help would get taken advantage of. “What if they were asked to (shudder) get coffee? They need to be sitting in high level meetings to learn!”

Let me tell you – sitting at the feet of a great mentor, even if it means grinding the beans and brewing the coffee yourself for the cup of coffee, can transform you life.

Find a way to stay in exchange so that everyone is feeling rewarded by the relationship. If that means you have to get coffee, well that means that right now that’s the highest value you can bring to the relationship. Later on, it’ll get better, as you improve your skills.

The delicate art of negotiation

Lesson #3: If you can find a way to put a picture of your dog in a blog or forum, you can pay him a modeling fee!

$100 is a standard modeling fee…and $100 buys a lifetime supply of dog food for a 5 pound dog!

Dinner … for life!

What can your business write off today?

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